Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-17

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In their advertising, businesses nowadays usually emphasise that their products are new in some way. Why is this? Do you think it is a positive or negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In recent years, the competition between the brands has increased as for each product there is at least more than 3 to 4 brands making the same thing. This is the reason why businesses nowadays usually emphasize that their products are new and better in some way.

Earlier there used to be a single brand or two making a particular product which was used by lots of people. But now the situation is different. So to sell their products and make them the largest consumed product the companies try to upgrade. Although this can encourage innovation and give consumers better choices, excessive emphasis on novelty can also encourage unnecessary purchasing.

It would only be a positive development if the newer products are more efficient than there older ones or they really help people solve a real problem instead of just being there. New products also give an opportunity to the other companies to try and come up with even better solutions. This would help the customers if the companies fight among themselves to produce even more genuine products.

Sometimes, this often turns into a negative development if the newer product claims to be different but gives the same results as the previous ones. This creates a sense of distrust in the market. Moreover, claiming the product to be new and just changing its packaging makes unnecessary consumption adding more waste.

For instance, the product Vim Bar/Liquid, that is particularly used to wash the dishes has been upgraded over the past years. At its initial stage it claimed to be a kind of soap that would help to get rid of greasy and smelly utensils. Over time, it came up with newer formulas like the ones with fragrance, then with lemon-based soap bars. It also introduced a liquid soap for the dishwashers. The recent version of the soap bar had specific chemicals to avoid affecting hands and still deliver the desired result.

Hence, taking any product and its advertisement to a positive or negative direction lies solely in the hands of the company making and branding them.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: explaining why businesses emphasize 'newness' and providing a personal opinion on whether this is positive or negative. The ideas are relevant, particularly the distinction between genuine innovation and superficial changes. However, the development is somewhat uneven. While the example of the dishwashing product is specific, the analysis of why companies do this could be more deeply explored in terms of market saturation or consumer psychology. The position is clear throughout, though the conclusion is a bit brief. Overall, the response covers all requirements of the task well.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a central theme, such as the benefits of innovation versus the drawbacks of superficial marketing. Cohesive devices like 'Although', 'Moreover', and 'For instance' are used effectively to link ideas. However, some transitions feel slightly mechanical, and the flow between the second and third paragraphs could be smoother. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different stages of the argument, which helps the reader follow the progression of ideas without difficulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is generally appropriate for the task, with some good topic-specific terms such as 'market saturation', 'innovation', and 'superficial'. There is an attempt to use a range of vocabulary, though some phrasing is slightly repetitive (e.g., 'products' is used very frequently). Some word choices are slightly imprecise, such as 'fight among themselves' instead of 'compete', and 'there older ones' (a grammatical error affecting lexical precision). To reach a higher band, you should aim for more sophisticated collocations and avoid repeating basic nouns by using synonyms or pronouns more effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors, such as 'there older ones' (should be 'their'), 'competition between the brands' (should be 'competition among brands'), and 'at its initial stage it claimed' (slightly awkward phrasing). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. The use of punctuation is generally correct, but some sentence constructions are a bit clunky. Increasing the variety of complex structures and ensuring consistent subject-verb agreement will help improve this score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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